Category: Sports News

The Mets welcomed the Braves to Citi Field with a 7-5 victory to open the series against the division leaders.

The dynamic duo of Bo Bichette and Juan Soto went back-to-back in the first inning to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead against their rivals. After Nolan McLean labored in the second and Atlanta tied the game, MJ Melendez doubled with two outs in the bottom half of the inning. That ended up being a key play in the game since the team went on to load the bases for Bichette who blasted his second home run of the game.

Bichette’s grand slam also saved McLean who stayed in game once staked to a four-run lead. It still wasn’t easy for the righty but he didn’t give up any more runs outside of the second inning. In that inning he threw 42 pitches and gave up RBI hits to old friend Dominic Smith and Mike Yastrzemski. After the two runs came home, the Braves loaded the bases with nobody out but he escaped without further damage by getting two strikeouts and a pop up. His night was done when he was unhappily pulled after four innings. McLean walked four and struck out six in his brief outing and then the game was in the bullpen’s hands.

First up was Cionel Pérez who gave up a home run to Matt Olson to allow the Braves to creep closer and after Huascar Brazobán was stellar for 1.2 innings, Brooks Raley was less so. He got just two outs and gave up two runs which forced the team to turn to Devin Williams with the tying runs on base. Williams did allow one of the inherited runners to score, but he got big Rowdy Tellez to fly out for the final out of the eighth inning. In the ninth the tying run again came to the plate, this time in the form of Olson, but Williams struck him out to nail down the save.

The Mets offense had tacked on a run the the fourth but they were held mostly in check after Spencer Strider departed early with right arm soreness. This game ultimately became a battle of the bullpens and while the Mets’ bullpen bent it did not break and they held on for a 7-5 win they desperately needed. Lets go Mets baby. Love da Mets.

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Win Probability Added

Big Mets winner: Bo Bichette +41% WPA
Big Mets loser: Nolan McLean and Brooks Raley -5% WPA
Mets pitchers: +5% WPA
Mets hitters: +45% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Bo Bichette grand slam in second, +30% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mike Yastrzemski RBI single in second, -14.2% WPA.

On a drizzly night, the Twins managed (somehow) to win a battle of bumpy bullpens. (In bWAR for relievers, the Cards’ pitchers are ninth in MLB; the Twins’ are 29th.) Inning-by-inning notes:

1: Cards 1B Alec Burleson has a home run in each of his last three games; make it four. Heckuva hot streak. If you didn’t know (I didn’t), the record is eight games in a row. Shared by Ken Griffey, Jr. (1993), Don Mattingly (1987), and Dale Long (1956). Long’s not a name most of us are familiar with, but he had a solid career OPS of .80 over 10 seasons. Six guys have hit seven in a row, and 25 have hit six. None of the above were Twins.

Byron Buxton now has one straight game with a home run. That’s #21 for the year; that’s on pace for 48! But we know he’ll waive his no-trade clause, get traded to the Dodgers for a high-A prospect, and end up hitting 75 home runs because the Dodgers have bought off the baseball gods. (They can afford it.) Tied 1-1

2: Two singles by guys who have Tattooine-type names; Lars Nootbar and Masyn Winn. Then a lineout, and an RBI single for Blaze Jordan, who was just called up today! It was his first at-bat, in fact. Good for him. After a strikeout, there’s a single to right, and Winn scores. Originally, the throw beat Jordan to third, and he was tagged out… but, SS Tristan Gray bumped into Jordan on the basepaths, so he’s safe because of defensive interference.

Radio’s Kris Atteberry keeps saying this mistake cost the Twins a double play. No, Kris. No, it did not. Well, everybody makes boo-boos.

Royce Lewis hits a long out. That’s as exciting as the Twins get here. Cardinals 3-1

3: Ooh, Gameday has really spruced up the graphics this year:

That ball in the dirt KICKED UP some dirt. This is what you pay graphic design graduates hard money to think up, folks.

Finally a 1-2-3 inning for Joe Ryan, although he’s at 63 pitches now which means four innings of The Best Bullpen in Baseball.™

Tristan Gray has a leadoff single, and this mistake costs the Twins an imaginary radio double play. Whoops, I jinxed it, since after a Luke Keaschall strikeout there is an actual double play. Well, I wouldn’t have jinxed it if Atteberry hadn’t said it in the first place, so it’s still his fault.

4: Oops, I also jinxed Ryan by saying he’d pitch five innings. They just paused the game for rain, so he’s done.

I double-jinxed it. The delay was short enough (29 minutes) that Ryan’s back out. Waiting for the game to start, OTHER radio guy Dan Gladden says “I think 14 teams make the playoffs now” and this is untrue, so let’s just assume that the third radio guy is named Jim Beam tonight. Another 1-2-3 for Ryan.

Buxton hits a double, and tries stretching it into a triple. It doesn’t work. The rest of the Twins avoid baserunning errors by avoiding the bases.

5: Two-out single by Iván Herrera, who steals second with no throw, but Ryan strikes out Burleson to end it. He’s at 92 pitches now, though, so my original jinx stands true.

Here we go! A Lewis single and super-rare Victor Caratini double. Second and third, no out. Brooks Lee hit one to right, and Lewis doesn’t try to score, thinking RF Jordan Walker has a rocket arm. Walker does, but the throw ended up being way off line. Still, Gray has an infield single and Royce scores. Luke Keaschall flies out; not deep enough for the slow Caratini to tag up. No more goodness; man, you’d like to have had two runs there. Gashouse Gang 3-2

6: TRIPLE JINX! Ryan stays in to get three guys on seven pitches. Shows how much I know. I mean, I know a lot about certain things. I know that old-timey actor Edward G. Robinson was in a crime movie called The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse and you probably didn’t know that. But I do not always predict the future of baseballing games accurately.

Gee whiz, Byron… 3-3 tonight, this one a double. Kody Klobberin’ Klemens takes a walk. Josh Bell manages to golf-swing one off the outfield wall, and for some reason Clemens doesn’t get past third. Still, Buxton scores, and this chases starter Kyle Leahy.

Alfonso Soriano’s cousin George Soriano in to pitch. Royce sac fly to center, scoring Clemens. “Other” Soriano escapes further damage. Again, when (after the Bell RBI double) you had runners on second and third with nobody out, you’d like to get both of those in, but we’ll have to settle for Twins 4-3

7: Taylor Rogers (4.78 ERA) in. Leadoff walk, not so good. He gets a called Strike Three on the next guy, and he’s probably lucky this is Blaze Jordan’s first MLB game, because the 3-2 pitch was inside, but Jordan doesn’t challenge it. Roger gets the next guy swinging, and walks another; geez, Taylor.

This brings in Eric “Oozy” Orze. He gives up a hit, but Tristan Gray manages to keep the ball from escaping the infield. Nobody scores; yet the bases are loaded.

Four straight balls from Orze. YUMMY. Tie game.

Jordan Walker double. NOT tie game.

The new Cards pitcher is Gordon Graceffo, who is not related to Alfonso Soriano, but he has a very cool name just by itself. He gives up two walks of his own, and the second means he’s replaced by Ryne Stanek.

Hey! Kody Clemens found his dad’s old pharmacy phone number! Homer runner! Tied 7-7

8: Something called a Yoendrys Gómez pitching for the Twins. One easy pop-up out, then a single, WP, another single, and a ball that gets stuck in Tristan Gray’s glove for the RBI. Yuck. New pitcher time, it’s Anthony Banda. A bloop single loads them up; still only one out. A pop-out to first; then a flyout to center. Nice job, Banda, I guess maybe.

Hey, what happens when you hit a ball at the right angle 107 MPH? A Dong Does! Thanks Royce!

Then, Brooks Lee with a pathetic, only 100 MPH one. But, we’ll take the second dong anyways! Better Midwesterners 9-8

9: Andrew “Not Black Jack” Morris in for the save opportunity, and it’s… really pretty easy for him! Twims wim! (Yes, we spell it wrong on purpose here sometimes.)

Studs: Joe Ryan and the Bomba Squad, 6/12/2026 edition: Buxton, Clemens, Lewis, Lee. Duds: No duds, Twins win! (Except the whole bullpen, but it’s not their fault they stink, it’s Pohlvey’s.)

The Twins remain one of two teams (along with the Nats) not to have a walkoff win so far this season.

COTG: Nagurski for weather/cultural observations, SooFoo for “more like tarps on” (referencing how half-nekkid Cards fans like to call themselves the “Tarps Off” bunch, and there was a rainy delay), sandwiches for “We should play Twinkie Town blackout bingo with how the bullpen f***s up a game. Pretty sure we’d have a blackout already on the bingo card and by drowning our sorrows,” then Matt for “what is this Morris nonsense… get Lawrence out there, I want the Twins to obliterate the unique saves record”

Thanks to everybody who joined in; it was a long night!

Tomorrow’s game is at 1:10, featuring one Matthew Liberatore against our own Connor Prielipp. Catch ya next time!

This is going to be a much cheerier recap than my last one, for obvious reasons. Feels like the Guardians haven’t played many truly well-rounded complete games recently, and tonight was a sterling example of what that looks like for this iteration of the club. Great starting pitching which, in turn, limits the amount of damage the middle/non-Cade relievers can do, and just enough offense.

Guardians got the scoring started with a 2-out rally (kinda) in the 2nd. Hoskins hit a leadoff double, which was promptly followed by back-to-back flyouts — neither of which advanced him to 3rd. But, as you might expect, Bailey drove in Hoskins with an RBI single and Rocchio drove in Bailey with an RBI triple (why not?).

The Tigers fought right back in the 3rd with a James Outman (who, if you missed it, was picked up by the Tigers yesterday) solo homer.

It was pretty quiet until the 6th, when Kwan drove in Angel with an RBI single (Angel doubled).

Bibee was through 7 and came out for the 8th, but gave up a solo homer to Torkelson. He was pulled after that. His final line was 7+ IP 2H 2ER 8K 2BB.

Flaherty, who started for the Tigers, was pulled after the 3rd. He had an awkward tumble in the 2nd, but came back out in new cleats for the 3rd. He seems to have been pulled due to some foot/lower leg injury.

Gaddis pitched a scoreless 8th, and Cade slammed the door in the 9th.

Cantillo vs. Skubal tomorrow!

A loss in the first game of the season against the New York Mets was bad for the Atlanta Braves.

The loss of Spencer Strider to right arm soreness during his start was worse.

Strider’s departure after his fastball plummeted to 88-89 mph in the fourth inning overshadowed Atlanta’s 7-5 loss in Queens, N.Y. Friday night.

Mind you, it wasn’t a good start before the velocity dropped for Strider, who allowed a season-high seven runs on six hits — including three home runs — in three-plus innings.

But the optics of another apparent arm injury for a player who has been plagued by them of late are much worse than just a bad start, looming over a starting rotation which should get healthier in the coming weeks and months but isn’t quite there yet.

It didn’t seem the Braves were going to be in a competitive game when Strider exited in a 6-2 game which quickly became 7-2 when an inherited runner scored. Bo Bichette and Juan Soto hit back-to-back homers in the first off Strider.

After Atlanta scored two of its own in the second — before failing to take the lead with the bases loaded and no outs — the Mets reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning on another Bichette homer, this one a wall-scraping grand slam.

Credit to JR Ritchie, who was tasked with a bulk-relief appearance in his return to the major league level, for stabilizing things. He allowed the inherited run from Strider on a single to the first batter he faced and then a Bichette sacrifice fly for his sixth RBI.

But from there, Ritchie was dominant the rest of the way, allowing just one more hit and two walks over five total innings of work, striking out five. He did it on just 73 pitches, a promising response after his pitch count would often get a bit elevated in his first stint with the Braves earlier this season.

That shutdown from the rookie allowed the Braves to chip into the deficit. They got a run back in the fifth on a solo homer from Matt Olson, his 20th of the season. They got two more in the eighth on RBI singles from Ozzie Albies (team-high two hits and two runs) and Eli White.

They brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth in the form of pinch hitter Rowdy Tellez, who popped out to strand two, and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after Mauricio Dubon worked a 14-pitch at-bat that ended with a single.

But Michael Harris II and Olson each struck out to strand Dubon and end the game short of what would have been a morale-boosting victory given the circumstances.

Instead, it was the Braves’ third straight loss, just their second three-game losing streak of the season and the first since April 4-6. They’ll look to avoid their first four-game losing streak of the season Saturday night when Martin Perez (4-3, 3.02 ERA) to the mound against a TBD pitcher for New York.

Bo Bichette hit two home runs and tied a career-high with six RBI and Devin Williams delivered a four-out save as the Mets hung on for a 7-5 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night at Citi Field.

New York (31-38) grabbed the first of 13 matchups with Atlanta (45-24), and improved to .500 at home on the year.

Here are the key takeaways...

- The Mets jumped on Braves starter Spencer Strider early as Bichette launched a hanging slider at the top of the zone deep to left for a solo shot. The 0-2 offering was smacked (102.6 mph off the bat) and went 383 feet for his seventh of the season.

Juan Soto followed up by cranking a 97 mph fastball at the top of the zone out to right field to make it back-to-back one-out homers. Soto's blast, his 15th of the year, went 382 feet (109.1 mph). It was the second-straight game that the Mets hit two home runs in the bottom of the first inning. 

- MJ Melendez ripped a double into the right-field corner and that started a little two-out push in the second as Luis Torrens got a fortunate infield hit on a ball that tipped off Strider’s glove before Carson Benge was plunked on the elbow to load the bases.

After ex-Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner went out for a visit, Bichette capitalized, smacking a fastball over the plate the other way for a grand slam, just sneaking it over the wall, 341 feet into the corner. 

- Melendez worked a walk to start the fourth and that ended Strider’s night as he exited with the trainer due to right arm soreness. JR Ritchie entered in relief and surrendered a single to Torrens to put two men aboard. With one down and runners on the corners, Bichette muscled a sac fly to center to make it 7-2, but that was all the Mets could muster. (Ritchie would do really well to save Atlanta's bullpen with five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.)

Soto finished the day 2-for-3 with the solo HR, an intentional walk, and a ripped single into right in the seventh.

Melendez would finish the night 2-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Torrens would end up 2-for-3.

-  McLean shook off the 76-minute rain delay with two strikeouts in a perfect first. But the righty got into trouble in the second: A walk on a full count, an error on a pick-off throw to first, an RBI single, and another walk on a full count brought pitching coach Justin Willard out for a visit. McLean didn’t settle, allowing a full-count RBI single to Mike Yastrzemski to tie the game and issuing another full-count walk to load the bases with nobody down.

McLean then buckled down, getting Austin Wynns swinging, Mauricio Dubón on an infield-fly, and Michael Harris II looking to end a 42-pitch inning.

Again pitching with a lead, McLean got around a one-out single with a 4-6-3 double-play for a quick bounce-back inning. After issuing his fourth full-count walk of the game to start the fourth, he kept Atalanta off the board with two more strikeouts in the process.

But on the warm, muggy night, that was it for the righty: 4.0 innings, two runs on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts on 93 pitches (55 strikes). Before getting the hook, McLean had an animated conversation in the dugout with manager Carlos Mendoza. He later slammed his hat on the bench in frustration. 

- Out of the bullpen, Cionel Perez made two nice plays popping off the mound for outs to start the fifth, but left a sinker in the happy zone for MattOlson to smack a lefty-on-lefty homer 399 feet to right-center. Perez got the first out of the sixth before Huascar Brazobán got back-to-back strikeouts to close the inning, and then added two more strikeouts in a perfect seventh.

Brooks Raley allowed a leadoff single to start the eighth, and after a passed ball and groundout, Ozzie Albies poked a run-scoring single up the middle to cut the Mets' lead to three. Raley got pinch-hitter Jorge Mateo swinging, but a breaking ball over the plate to Austin Riley put two in scoring position with a double to left-center.

When Atlanta pinch-hit with Eli White, the Mets turned to Williams for a four-out save. White grounded an 0-2 changeup down the third-base line that Brett Baty knocked down with a dive, but it was an RBI infield hit. But Williams got Rowdy Tellez (the third pinch-hitter of the inning) to pop out to left to end the inning with runners on the corners.

After getting the first out of the ninth on one pitch, the closer lost a 14-pitch battle with Dubón, who singled to right to bring the tying run to the plate. But Williams, pitching for the second straight day and looking for his first four-out save in some time, got Harris swinging on a 94 mph fastball and blew two fastballs past Olson before getting him swinging on a nasty changeup to slam the door.

- Marcus Semien singled and swiped second base with two out in the third, but was left stranded. He finished 1-for-3 with two strikeouts, one looking and one swinging, and a walk.

- Benge finished hitless in three at-bats with a strikeout swinging and a HBP. 

- Baty finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout swinging.

- A.J. Ewing went 0-for-4, with a pair of swinging strikeouts.

- Jared Young went hitless in four trips, including a 6-3 double play. 

Game MVP: Bo Bichette

The Mets have been waiting for Bichette's bat to get cooking, and a 2-for-3 day with two home runs could be the start of that.

Highlights

A pair of strikeouts in the first inning for Nolan McLean

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/yrCwXQFr5m

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 13, 2026

Juan Soto goes BACK-TO-BACK with Bo Bichette!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/17ZxB6a52j

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 13, 2026

BO BICHETTE GRAND SLAM!!!!!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/8YISPaHVMA

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 13, 2026

What's next

The series continues with a late afternoon first pitch, 4:10 p.m.

New York has yet to announce a starter, but Sean Manaea (5.02 ERA, 1.442 WHIP in 43 innings) is expected to either follow an opener or be used as a traditional starter.

Atlanta will send out left-hander Martin Perez (3.02 ERA, 1.059 WHIP over 56.2 innings).

Before the Royals took an at-bat in the first inning, they were down 9-0. Before the Astros took their second at-bat, the Royals had made it 9-5. Neither starter made it through the first inning, but the bullpens held it there until the eighth, when the Royals added 3 more to make 9-8. The Astros added a home run in the ninth off of Matt Strahm (naturally) to give us the final score of 10-8.

The big damage in the first inning was done by Yordan Alvarez, who has had a great career but is having perhaps his best season yet at age 28. He belted two home runs in that first inning, a two-run shot followed by a grand slam on his second trip. Christian Walker, having a rebound year, also hit a solo shot in the inning.

The Royals kept the line moving in their half of the first. Carter Jensen led off with a single, Bobby Witt Jr. walked, and Vinnie Pasquantino singled to drive home Carter. Maikel Garcia grounded into a fielder’s choice, Vinnie out at second, but drove in a second run. Jac Caglianone struck out, one of three on the evening, and Salvador Perez swung at a 3-2 pitch below the zone to put runners at second and third. Michael Massey doubled down the right field line to drive in one, then Kameron Misner blooped a single to center to drive in two more. Isaac Collins ripped a single into left, and Kameron Misner made the inexplicable decision to go to third on the plate and was thrown out to end the inning.

And that was it for the scoring until the eighth inning.

Garcia singled to lead off, then Jac struck out again, Salvy singled to center, then Massey went opposite field for an RBI single. The Astros called on lefty reliever Bryan King, and Lane Thomas was tasked with pinch-hitting for Misner, but he struck out. Isaac Collins got hit by an 0-2 pitch to load the bases. Carter Jensen took an RBI walk, and Bobby smashed one toward the hole, but Isaac Parades managed to knock it down, keeping the Royals to only an RBI infield single. With the lefty still on the mound, Matt Quatraro went back to his bench to get Starling Marte to pinch-hit for Vinnie Pasquantino. Marte hit a weak grounder to short. Last year, he would have been fast enough to beat that out, and the Royals would have tied the game. Alas, it is 2026, and he was thrown out by a hair.

As previously noted, the Astros got one of those runs back, and Josh Hader came in to close it out, inducing three poorly hit balls from the Royals to end things.

Given how the game started, it’s amazing that KC managed to get all the way back in the game. But, as has been their modus operandi for the past two years, it was just too little, too late.

They’ll try again tomorrow evening. Mike Burrows (5.77 ERA, 9.8% K-BB%) will go against the suddenly sensational Noah Cameron (3.84 ERA, 16.7% K-BB%). The game is scheduled to start at 6:10 p.m. Central time. The USMNT isn’t playing this time, so I have no idea how you might otherwise distract yourself from whatever nonsense the Royals get up to this time.

Friday night’s game in Minnesota was a turning point of sorts for the St. Louis Cardinals after several roster moves one of which was the debut of Blaze Jordan. He contributed along with a bomb from Alec Burleson, but the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen would blow a lead late as the Minnesota Twins beat the birds Friday night in Minneapolis in a heartbreaker.

It has been a happy habit lately for the St. Louis Cardinals to score early and Friday was no exception. With two outs in the top of the 1st inning, Alec Burleson launched a 95 mph four-seam fastball from Joe Ryan 419 feet way up into the right-center field seats giving St. Louis an early 1-0 lead.

That one-run lead wouldn’t last long as Byron Buxton sent a Kyle Leahy 91 mph slider 425 feet to dead centerfield tying the game 1-1.

There would be two storylines in the top of the 2nd inning and they’re both related. The first was the Major League debut of Blaze Jordan who was called up as Nolan Gorman was sent down. After Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn singled, Jimmy Crooks lined out to center which brought up Blaze Jordan which would lead to several firsts. It was his first Major League at-bat, hit and RBI driving in Masyn Winn and giving the Cardinals their lead back at 2-1. Welcome to the show!

After Blaze Jordan’s hit and RBI, Nathan Church struck out, but JJ Wetherholt picked him up lofting a single over the second baseman’s head upping the Cardinals lead to 3-1. One interesting side note on that play was Blaze Jordan who would have been thrown out at third base, but he smartly ran past second base and didn’t slow down making contact with the shortstop which resulted in interference being called by the umpires, so Blaze was granted third base. He didn’t score when Ivan Herrera grounded out to end the inning, but that was smart baserunning and situational awareness by Jordan.

There was a 29 minute rain delay that interrupted play, but Kyle Leahy returned to the mound anyway. He would give up one run in the bottom of the 5th inning after he surrendered a single to Lewis and a double to Caratini. Two batters later, Lewis would score on an infield single by Gray cutting the St. Louis lead to just one at 3-2. Kyle would continue into the bottom of the 6th, but would run into trouble again. He gave up a leadoff double to Buxton then walked Clemens. Josh Bell then hammered a Kyle Leahy changeup to center for a double tying the game 3-3. Manager Oli Marmol took Kyle out of the game and brought in George Soriano in relief. He would give up a sacrifice fly to center which would score Clemens giving the Twins their first lead of the game at 4-3. Kyle Leahy’s line for the night would be 5 innings giving up 8 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 5 and walking just 1.

The Cardinals would strike back in the top of the 7th inning. Jimmy Crooks walked to leadoff the inning, but Blaze Jordan was called out looking on a pitch that likely would have been overturned if he had made an ABS appeal. Nelson Velasquez pinch-hit for Nathan Church, but also struck out. JJ Wetherholt then drew a two-out walk on a no-doubt ABS challenge where he was already taking off his gear before the result was even revealed. Ivan Herrera then reached on an infield single which was actually a great grab by the shortstop to keep it from reaching the outfield resulting in a bases-loaded opportunity for the Cardinals with Alec Burleson coming to the plate. He promptly walked on 4 pitches when Twins reliever Eric Orze couldn’t find the strike zone walking in a run and tying the game 4-4. That brought up Jordan Walker who did what the 2026 version of Jordan Walker does. He punished an 85 mph splitter and ripped it into the left field corner which cleared the bases as even Alec Burleson scored all the way from first giving St. Louis a 7-4 lead.

Gordon Graceffo was the Cardinals answer for the start of the 7th inning, but he unfortunately wouldn’t finish it. After Gray grounded out to start the inning, Graceffo walked Keaschall. After Larnach flied out to center, Gordon then walked Buxton which brought up the tying run to the plate. The Cardinals brought in Ryne Stanek who was rudely greeted by Kody Clemens who crushed a 3-run homer into the right field stands tying the game (again) 7-7 in the 7th inning. Bummer.

Never fear. The St. Louis Cardinals relentless approach would star once again in Minnesota in the top of the 8th inning. After Masyn Winn popped out to lead off the Cardinals 8th, Jimmy Crooks singled to center and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Twins reliever Gomez. Blaze Jordan would then punch his second hit of the night into right field, but the Twins outfield was playing in and Bryan Torres who pinch-ran for Crooks was stopped at third base. Jose Fermin then whistled a sharp grounder to shortstop Gray for what looked like would be an inning-ending double play, but instead he was unable to get the ball out of his glove resulting in everyone being safe and Torres scoring to give the Cardinals an 8-7 lead.

It was then JJ Wetherholt’s turn as he lanced a single into short left field to load the bases again. Unfortunately, the Cardinals would not get another run on the board after Herrera popped out to second base and Burleson flied out to center. Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt St. Louis big time one half inning later.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Ryne Stanek delivered a 95 mph four-seam fastball in exactly the place that Royce Lewis was looking for it and he destroyed it 394 feet high up into the left field seats tying the game (again) at 8-8 in the 8th inning. But wait, there’s more. After JJ Wetherholt made a Gold Glove-level play on a hot grounder from Caratini to get him out, Stanek grooved an 87 mph slider to Lee who gave someone 382 feet away in right field a souvenir making it 9-8 Twins. BUMMER.

The Cardinals sent up big bats in the top of the 9th inning as it was Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn representing St. Louis’ last hope. They unfortunately grounded out consecutively 1-2-3 to end a very disappointing night in Minnesota. They’ll try again Saturday afternoon when Matthew Liberatore gets the start for the Cardinals against LHP Connor Prielipp for the Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm central time and the broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv.

CHICAGO –– With the upstart White Sox unexpectedly in first place, there is an energy pulsing through the South Side of Chicago again.

On Friday night, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki found himself on the wrong side of it.

Surrounded by a raucous crowd at Rate Field, and struggling to find his recently improved command, Sasaki and the Dodgers came unglued in a seven-run fifth inning, letting the game get away from them in an 8-2 loss.

“As a staff, we’ve done a pretty good job of not allowing the huge inning,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Last couple times, in the last four or five games, we’ve given up big numbers. Unfortunately, that happens.”

Even before first pitch, the Dodgers’ night hadn’t started well.

Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup after suffering a knee inflammation injury on Thursday. The makeshift batting order the team was left with included Alex Call in the leadoff spot and Santiago Espinal at DH.

Despite that, the Dodgers had an early 2-1 lead –– bouncing back from a solo home run by Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the first with a two-run single from Espinal in the second.

By the time the fifth inning was over, however, everything had changed.

The meltdown started with a walk, one of three Sasaki would issue in the inning as his old command problems reared their ugly head. The young flamethrower wasn’t helped by his defense after that, with Freddie Freeman letting a potential double-play grounder get past him to score the inning’s first run.

With that, the score was tied 2-2. The crowd was whipped into an October-like frenzy. And after former Dodgers prospect Miguel Vargas laced an RBI double off the wall, there was no stopping the shift in momentum.

A pair of two-out walks –– the latter with the bases loaded –– chased Sasaki from the game. Blake Treinen replaced him but yielded a two-run single and a two-run triple.

And even if the Dodgers (44-26) had Ohtani’s bat at that point, the resulting six-run deficit likely still would’ve felt too great.

“I remember a few years back, it was empty, and there was a lot of dismay here on the South Side,” Roberts said of the White Sox. “And now there’s a lot of energy, excitement, they’re in first place. It’s a young, kind of a tough, athletic team.” 

What it means

After making significant strides over the last month, Sasaki still very much remains a work in progress.

On Friday, he struggled to command his breaking pitches, couldn’t get ahead in counts and ultimately couldn’t stop the bleeding once the White Sox (37-31) finally got to him.

His final line: 4 ⅓ innings, seven runs, three walks, four strikeouts –– raising his ERA back to 4.76.

“My offspeed pitch wasn’t really good today,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “So the third time through the order, I wasn’t able to get ahead in the count, I fell behind. So I couldn’t get those outs easily.”

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Who’s hot

About the only reliable performer for the Dodgers on Friday was second baseman Miguel Rojas, who finally seemed to be snapping out of a recent slump.

Rojas went 2-for-4 at the plate, including a double in the second. He also recovered from a slip on the edge of the infield in the bottom of the inning to throw out a runner off balance from his knees.

Who’s not

The Dodgers’ situational offense, especially in the second inning.

Before the White Sox broke it open, the Dodgers had the chance to do the same. Twice, they had the bases loaded against left-handed starter Anthony Kay. But outside of Espinal’s single, they couldn’t take advantage, with Andy Pages (strikeout) and Freeman (flyout) coming up empty for the final two outs of the inning.

After that, a third-inning single from Rojas would be the only other time the Dodgers got a runner on base.

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.68 ERA) will be on the mound Saturday against right-hander Sean Burke (3-3, 3.88 ERA). Whether or not Ohtani also returns remains to be seen.

“He just got treated [today],” Roberts said. “So talking to the training staff just right now, I’m optimistic. But I want to get him through tonight, get him here, go through some semblance of a workout, getting his body ready, and then we’ll go from there.”

Mariners 10, Nationals 2

Doing shots during a rain delay: Dominic Canzone, .17 WPA

Shotgun weddings during a rain delay: with apologies to Zack Littell for the rare non-Mariner goat WPA, Zack Littell: -.33 WPA

Game thread comment of the day:

Yankees 5 Blue Jays 8

Well, that was a baseball game. It had everything. Life doesn’t get much better. I always say that my two favourite things are a Jays’ win and a Yankees’ loss, and when I can get both in the same game, that’s even better.

Trey Yesavage was not good. 5 innings, 4 hits, 6 walks and 3 strikeouts. He was all around the strikezone but not in it near enough. He has been going through a rough little run. But his ERA is still 3.78, so things aren’t all that bad.

In the first four innings he didn’t give up any runs but:

• Walked one it the first.
• Loaded the bases on a single and two walks in the second.
• Had a clean third.
• Walked one in the forth.

The fifth didn’t go as well, double, out, walk, sac fly, home run, and then strikeout.

And he started the sixth, giving up a walk and double. Mason Fluharty came in and allowed both inherited runners to score.

Thankfully, our offense was great today. We scored:

• Three in the first: Ernie Clement singled with one out. An out later, Alejandro Kirk doubled him home. Then Kazuma Okamoto homered into the fifth deck. Apparently only the tenth Blue Jay to hit one up there. 111.4 mph, 423 feet. Number 14 on the season.
• Two in the second: With two out, Andrés Andrés Giménez was hit by pitch and George Springer homered (not into the fifth deck, but still counts apparently.
• Two in the fifth: Springer walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Vlad double down the third base line. Springer scored (he scored a few times today). And Alejandro Kirk singled home Vlad.
• One in the eighth: With two out, Springer walked and scored from first on a Clement double (the old guy can still run). It thought Yankees Max Schuemann took a rather circular route to the ball. I don’t know if he could have made the catch but he could have held Clement to a single and held Springer at third.

We had ten hits and four walks. Kirk had three in his first start back from the IL (plus a walk). Clement had two.

The top of the order had a good day for a change. One thru four went 7 for 15 with 4 walks. And it was nice to see George Springer have a good day, the homer and 3 walks.

After Fluharty, our bullpen did a great job:

• Braydon Fisher gave up two hits and a walk but got out of the seventh without a run scoring.
• Tyler Rogers had a clean eighth.
• Louis Varland had a clean ninth, with two strikeouts, for his 12th save. Gotta like a guy with a 0.49 ERA.

Other than that, our defense looked very good. Giménez continues to amaze me with how smooth he is. And the second hardest hit ball of the game was caught by Vlad, on a nice play. I was wondering how you catch a ball moving at 107 mph without breaking bone.

Having Kirk back was huge, he challenged the first pitch of the game, and was right. He did have a passed ball.

Jays of the Day: Kirk (0.16 WPA), Okamoto (0.13), and Springer (0.11). And let’s give one to our bullpen pitchers, Fisher, Rogers and Varland (totaled 0.17 WPA).

Other Award: Yesavage (-0.09). Sorry Trey.

Tomorrow we have a couple of very good pitchers going. Cam Schlittler (7-3, 1.87) vs. Kevin Gausman (4-4, 3.60).

TORONTO — Ryan Weathers is the only member of the Yankees pitching staff that was not in the organization the last time they played here before Friday.

But the left-hander sure looked a lot like the rest of his teammates did over the course of last year when playing north of the border.

The Blue Jays beat up on Weathers early, taking him deep twice in the first two innings to worsen his home run problem, and then hung on to hand the Yankees an 8-5 loss that snapped their four-game winning streak on Friday night at sold-out Rogers Centre.

Combined with Trey Yesavage blanking the Yankees early, the game had shades of 2025, when Aaron Boone’s club went 1-6 here during the regular season and 0-2 in the AL Division Series.

Weathers, who has now given up nine home runs over his last five starts and 15 overall, lasted just 4 ¹/₃ innings while giving up six runs. He has given up at least five runs in four of his last five starts, with the long ball central to those struggles.

“I’m a competitor, I want to win,” Weathers said. “I’m sick of putting us in a hole right now the last couple outings. It’s not a good feeling. You want to win ballgames as much as you can, so just got to get back to executing pitches better.”

The Yankees actually got to Yesavage, who had thrown 11 ¹/₃ shutout innings and given up just three base-runners across two career starts against them (including a dominant performance here in Game 2 of the ALDS), for five runs in five-plus innings. But it proved to be too little, too late, after trailing 5-0 in the fifth inning and 7-3 in the sixth.

To make matters worse, the Yankees lost one of their hottest hitters, Trent Grisham, in the sixth inning. He left the game with right hamstring tightness after taking second on a two-run single that pulled them within 7-5, which could ultimately land him on the injured list.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The Yankees later threatened to complete the comeback, loading the bases in the seventh inning before Ryan McMahon flew out to end the threat against reliever Braydon Fisher

“At-bat wise, I thought we had really good at-bats throughout the night against Yesavage and their good pen guys,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Both of the home runs that Weathers gave up on Friday came in 2-2 counts with two outs, once again derailing his outing. He had a simple explanation for the growing problem.

“Bad pitches,” he said. “Just throwing bad pitches. That’s all I got.”

The Blue Jays’ first rally off Weathers began in the bottom of the first, when Ernie Clement reached on a swinging bunt and then took second on a wild pitch with two outs. Yankees killer Alejandro Kirk (3-for-3, walk, two RBIs), in his first game back after missing two months with a broken thumb, drove him in with a double just beyond the reach of Grisham in center field.

Kazuma Okamoto came up next and demolished a down-and-in slider, clobbering the two-run shot to the upper deck in left field for the 3-0 lead. Okamoto became only the 10th player in Blue Jays history to hit a home run to the 500 level, according to the team, though Statcast somehow only estimated it to travel 423 feet.

In the second inning, Weathers retired the first two batters quickly before hitting No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez with an errant 96 mph sinker. That brought up George Springer, who crushed a changeup down the middle for another two-run homer that extended the lead to 5-0.

“Stuff’s good, he’s throwing well, just unfortunately some of his mistakes have left the ballpark,” Boone said.

Yesavage had stranded five runners through four innings before the Yankees finally cashed in on a rally in the fifth, capped off by Cody Bellinger’s two-run homer. José Caballero’s double knocked Yesavage out of the game in the sixth, and Grisham’s two-run single pulled the Yankees within 7-5, but that was as close as they got.

“We end up with 10 base-runners against [Yesavage] in five innings,” Boone said, “you take your chances with that.”